Cotton tie buckle



Nov. 13,l 1934. A. a'HAswELL.

COTTON TIE BUCKLE Filed Nov. 23:. 1933 Patented Nov. 13, 1934 1,980,620

UNITED STATES'PATENT OFFICE COTTON TIE BUCKLE Arthur B. Haswell, Birmingham, Ala.

Application November 23, 1933, Serial No. 699,447 9 claims. .(01. zii-*23) This invention relates to bale ties and while An important characteristic feature of the innot limited thereto it is well suited for baling vention relates to the provision of means wherecotton. The invention aims to provide a simple by the initialload imposed on the strap will be and inexpensive yet strongl and effective bale concentrated at points other than at locations tie, which will adequately hold a bale of mateat the outer longitudinal edges of the strap. 66

rial. within predetermined constricted limits. A This is of importance because it is effective to characteristic feature of the invention relates to prevent'the starting of transverse tears in the the improved buckle having end pieces with instrap. The inner edges of the end members d wardly projecting portions adapted to take the are so formed that they provide inward projecrst imposed load on a flat surface of the tie tions such as indicated at d2. These inward pro- 65 strap at a zone other than at the edges of such jections may take different forms. As illustrated tie strap. A further feature of the invention is in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the projections are in the provision of a buckle having portions so the form of inwardly curved or crowned porshaped that they will be effective to deform thetions. Similarly, in Fig. 7, the projections, as l5 tie strap in such a way that a tenacious hold indicated at d3, are in the forml of inwardly 70 will be secured and thus prevent the slipping of pointed portions. Instead of having merely one the tie relatively to the buckle. inward projection, in some cases, I will vprovide The above and other more detailed aspects of each member withy a. plurality of such projecthe invention will be fully apparent from the tions. Such modification is shown in Figs. 8 and following detailed disclosure when read in con- 9, the projections in Fig. 8 being rounded, as 75 nection with the accompanying drawing. indicated at d4. Or such plurality of projec- In the drawingtions may be of pointed form, as indicated at Fig. l is a side view showing a portion of a bale d5 in Fig. 9.

and I ny improved bale tie holding the same; When cotton and similar material is to be Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2--2 of baled with my improved bale. tie, it is contem- S0 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing plated that the material will be pressed in a the position of the parts prior to the imposition hydraulic or other suitable press and while in of a load on the strap member of the tie; Fig. 4 such a pressed state the tie strap will be wrapped is a horizontal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3; around the bale and the free ends thereof will Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view showing the type be threaded through the strap receiving aperture 35 of bale tie buckle illustrated in Fig. 1 and also E of the buckle. as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. showing a portion of the tie strap substantially In this condition, only a very small or restrictin the condition it assumes when a load is imed area of the tie strap will contact with the posed thereon; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on apex of the inward projection of the end member line 6--6 of Fig. 5; Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are views of the buckle. Itis thus clear that as the conm 90 similar to Fig. 5 illustrating alternative embodiing pressure on the bale is released the expansive ments of the invention; Fig. 10 is a small scale force thereof will tend to tighten the strap about perspective view of a bale of cotton or other baled the bale. And because of the peculiar and novel material held in constricted condition by a pluformation of the improved buckle, the rst loads rality of bale ties embodying my invention. imposed on the strap will be transmitted thereto 95 In the drawing, A represents a body of the at points on the flat face thereof other than at baled material such as cotton or the like which the edges. This is of importance because it imis adapted to be held together by a plurality. of poses the strain substantially centrally of the ,bale ties indicated as a whole at B. Each bale width of the tie and inhibits the tendency to tear tie includes a metal strap member C and a the strap. As the bulk of the bale continues to 100 buckle member D. The buckle D is preferably expand, the metal of the strap, being of relatively formed of a single piece of metal including end soft and somewhat ductile nature,wil1 be deformed members d and side members d. These conbecause of its coaction with the inwardly pronected end and side members define a closed jecting parts of the end piece of the buckle, thus strap-receiving aperture E, through which the a. non-slipping connection between the strap and 105 free ends c of the strap are adapted to be passed. the buckle is secured. In cases where the buckle The transverse width of the aperture E is just is provided with a plurality of inward extensions,

a trifle greater in dimension than the transverse such as exemplied at d4 and d5, the initial load width of the strap so that there is snflicient is somewhat divided transversely of the width of 56 clearance for variation in rolling of the strap. the strap. But, regardless of which embodiment no of the invention is employed, the outer longitudinal edges are relieved of strains, thus the tend-v ency to tear or sever the strap transversely is overcome and this advantage is secured even though in applying the buckle the operator may inadvertently skew it to a position other than at right angles to the direction 'of length of the tie, it being apparent that because of the inward projections, when the load is imposed, the buckle may teeter to a limited extent so as to nd its natural position.

This position will of course be determined by the forces acting substantially inthe direction of the longitudinal axis of the free ends of the strap. Thus, the buckle with the inward projections described may be said to be self-centering. It is of course understood that the imposition of the full load occasioned by the expansive force of the bale will then deform that portion of the strap in engagement with the buckle and make an eective non-slip jpint.

Closed bale tie buckles have heretoforebeen made and used. But, so far as I am aware they have not been provided with` inward projections adapted to take the initial'load, nor have they been intended to deform'any part of the strap so as to effectively prevent slippage. Thus my improved buckle is an important improvement ayer the closed bale ties heretofore used. Some of the former types of buckles, in fact. the one most generally used heretofore, is provided with a side opening to permit the strap to be entered vby transverse movement. This requires the use of a relatively heavier buckle. Such old buckle, I have observed in practice, weighs approximately .1192 pounds` whereas the buckle of my invention for equal strength will weigh approximately .0522 pounds. Thus with my improved buckle there is a saving of approximately .06'7 pounds per buckle. When it is considered that lsome mills produce approximately one million bundles of cotton ties per year, each bundle containing about thirty ties, it will be seen that I effect a saving of about nine hundred gross tons of steel per year by the use of the improved buckle herein disclosed.l Thus the buckle itself constitutes an improved article of manufacture having important advantages overI the buckles heretofore used for a similar purpose.

A further advantage is that the buckle of my invention can be 'produced cheaper on a roll or in rolling mills than can the buckle of the prior art referred to, which has a side opening.

The above and other inherent characteristic advantageous features of the buckle and bale tie described will be readily apparent to those familiar with the expedients heretofore employed for holding baled material within the confines of a determined compass.

WhileI have described quite specifically the vdetailed embodiments of the invention herein illustrated it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto and it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed as broadly as is consistent with the prior state of the art.

What I claim isz- 1. A bale tie comprising a metal strap and a vhaving an once piece buckle consisting of integral end members and side members defining a closed strapreceiving aperture, each of said end members having a curved inward blunt edged projection effective to initially engage the strap and deform it upon the imposition of a load thereon.

2. A bale tiecomprising a metal strap and a vone piece buckle consisting of integral end members and side members defining a closed strapreceiving aperture, the transverse distance between the inner edges being just a triflegreater than the width of the strap, each of said end members having an inward bluntedged projection effective to initially engage the strap and.v

deform the same without perforating it upon the imposition of a load thereon.

3. A bale tie comprising a metal strap and a buckle consisting of end members and side members defining a closed strap-receiving aperture, each of said end members having a blunt edged non-piercing inwardly projecting strap deforming portion. l

4. A bale tie comprising a metal strap' anda buckle consisting of end members and side members defining a closed strap-receiving aperture, each of said end members having an inwardly extended curved blunt edged strap deforming portion.

5. A bale tie comprising a metal strap and a buckle consisting of end members and side members defining a closed strap-receiving aperture, eachA of said end members having a plurality of blunt edged inwardly projecting strap deforming portions.

6. A bale tie including a buckle consisting of end and side members defining a strap-receiving aperture, said end members having inward projections, and a strap the free ends of which are wrapped around the end members and having imperforated deformed areas engaging and substantially conforming to the shape of said inward projections.

7 A bale tie including a one piece buckle consisting of integral end members and side members defining a closed strap receiving aperture, each of said end members having an inner blunt edged convex strap-engaging edge and a strap whose free ends are wrapped about said end members and having imperforate deformed portions substantially conforming to the shape of said convex edge.

8. As an article of manufacture, a bale tie buckle consisting of one piece including connected end and side members defining a closed strapreceiving aperture, each of said end members inward non-piercing blunt faced curved projection adapted to initially engage a bale tie strap so as to deform it upon the imposition of a load thereon.

9. As an article of manufacture, a one piece j: 

